Thursday, February 14, 2008

Valentine’s Day Fun





ROBERTA: I’m calling this post the Jungle Red Writers version of a Valentine’s Day card to readers and friends.

Part one is a website by a Connecticut woman who crams more into her life than you can imagine, including book reviews and the baking of amazing treats. Even if you don’t have the time or inclination to bake, just reading her recipes and looking at the pictures will make you drool: http://www.bakingandbooks.com/

Part 2: I’ve just spent the week with my sister (a nature writer) and brother-in-law (a geochemist) in Tallahassee. They are huge advocates of caring for our planet. My sister passes along Valentine’s Day advice:http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=16160_0_8_0_C

Part 3: In the mood for a romantic movie? Try one of these:http://www.amazon.com/Most-Romantic-Movies/lm/FO11OB2CXTG4

Part 4: Just for fun, Valentine’s Day lyrics by Abc:http://www.tsrocks.com/a/abc_texts/valentines_day.html

Part 5: And here’s a list of the UK Romantic Novelists' Association most romantic books ever written:

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
3. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
4. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
6. Katherine by Anya Seton
7. Persuasion by Jane Austen
8. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
9. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
10. Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Jungle Red Writers!

12 comments:

  1. Hank's favorite romantic movies:

    African Queen

    Love Actually

    Working Girl

    When Harry Met Sally

    The Philadelphia Story

    Funny Face

    To Catch a Thief

    Oh--there must be many more...something with Fred and Ginger? Audrey and Cary? Tracy and Hepburn? Grace and Jimmy?

    How about you?

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  2. I've read all but the Katherine book by Anya Seton. But of course, now that's on my list.

    My favorite romantic movies??? I'd have to add "You've Got Mail," "Truly, Madly, Deeply," and "While You Were Sleeping." Do you count GONE WITH THE WIND as a romance or is that in a separate SAGA category? I also admit to a fondness for teen movies -- which of course, are mostly romances. I really liked "Ten Things I Hate About You." And mourn Keith Ledger.

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  3. That's HEATH Ledger.

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  4. Love love Love, Actually...it's actually gotten me to like Mariah Carey (All I Want for Christmas Is You.) And Truly, Madly Deeply (...the sun aint gonna shine anymore...)Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, very hot.

    How 'bout sexy movies...
    Robert Redford shampooing Meryl Streep's hair in Out of Africa...can you stand it?
    William Hurt and Kathleen Turner in Body Heat.
    Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights ("Cathy, haunt me...")

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  5. Hi, Roberta!

    Just wanted to let you know your blog was mentioned in the latest installment of Carnival of the Criminal Minds:

    http://inreferencetomurder.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/02/carnival-of-t-1.html

    Cheers,
    BV Lawson
    http://inreferencetomurder.typepad.com/

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  6. As a Scot, I take much of Braveheart at some issue, but the scene where Wallace is revisited by his dead wife in a dream, dropping that strong man to his knees when he sees her, is one of the most romantic scenes I can remember.

    And the marriage (and subsequent honeymoon in the stream) ain't too shabby either.

    -=Susannah

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  7. I've been talking with some students this week about Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

    Possibly one of the most romantic scenes ever -- played in disconnect -- the death of Valmont after a duel that was, essentially, a suicide. And Valmont makes a request of his opponent:

    Valmont: Two things: A word of advice, which of course you may ignore, but ---it is honestly intended.
    And a request.

    The advice is: Be careful of the Marquise de Merteuil.

    Dancenay: You must permit me to treat with skepticism anything you would say about her.

    Valmont: Nevertheless, I must tell you in this affair, we are both her creatures, as I believe her letters to me will prove.
    When you have read them, you may decide to circulate them.

    Dancenay: And the request?

    Valmont: I want you somehow...
    ...somehow...to get to see Madame de Tourvel.

    Dancenay: I understand she is very ill.

    Valmont: That is why this is most important to me. I want you to tell her that I cannot explain why I broke with her as I did.
    But that since then, my life has been worth nothing. I pushed the blade in deeper than you just have my boy...and now I need you to help me withdraw it.
    Tell her it is lucky for her that I have gone -- and I am glad not to have to live without her. Tell her, her love was the only real happiness that I have ever known.

    Will you do that for me?


    Lovely, tragic, totally romantic scene. :-)

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  8. Wow...what a tear jerker. I so remember it. Wasn't Malkovich great? There are very few movies I can watch a second time, but that's one of them.

    Best romantic book read in the last ten years for me is The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger -- it's a 12-hankie read.

    Hallie

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  9. ..ok, speaking of 12 hankies...what's this from..."Oh Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon, we alrady have the stars.."
    Gave me chills just to type it.

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  10. Love the movie suggestions. But the Time Traveler's Wife wasn't my favorite. I just read it last month to see what the fuss was about. It was a miracle of plotting, but it dragged for me. Not even one hankie. Different strokes, right Hallie? :)

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  11. For Rosemary: Now, Voyager?

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